Alonso takes the victory in Bahrain for Ferrari
Fernando Alonso lead the Ferraris home for a 1-2, a dream start and a return to the front for the italian team. Massa followed Alonso home by a good margin though as Alonso though he was saving fuel at the end of the race. Alonso and Massa both stormed past the ailing Red Bull of Sebastien Vettel though I’m not sure he was as comfortable at the front as he seemed.
Hamilton will be pleased with third but probably more pleased with the so-so drive from Jenson Button that only took him to seventh. Rosberg will be similarly happy with beating Michael Schumacher but his inability to overtake the Red Bull of Vettel when Alonso, Massa and Hamilton had breezed past was puzzling.
Other stars are Liuzzi and Barrichello for wrapping up the points finishes and to the two Lotus boys Trulli and Kovalainen for finishing the first race as they were the only two cars from the new teams to finish – their pace wasn’t that bad either. At least di Grassi, Glock and Senna all had their cars break down Chandhok managed to take the nose off of his hrt-cosworth, that could be an issue for the team if they haven’t got all the parts ready yet.
In terms of the race however I’m not sure that the new rules helped with the excitement or made the race clearer, there always seemed to be something missing, and the cars never really reached the ultimate pace – the fastest lap was some 3/4 secs off the pole time. More on that later.
Race Result (49 laps):
1. ALONSO Ferrari
2. MASSA Ferrari +16.0s
3. HAMILTON McLaren +23.1s
4. VETTEL Red Bull +38.7s
5. ROSBERG Mercedes +40.2s
6. SCHUMACHER Mercedes +44.1s
7. BUTTON McLaren +45.2s
8. WEBBER Red Bull +46.3s
9. LIUZZI Force India +53.0s
10. BARRICHELLO Williams +62.4s
11. KUBICA Renault +69.0s
12. SUTIL Force India +82.9s
13. ALGUERSUARI Toro Rosso +92.6s
14. HULKENBERG Williams +1 lap
15. KOVALAINEN Lotus +2 laps
16. BUEMI Toro Rosso +3 laps
17. TRULLI Lotus +3 laps
R. DE LA ROSA Sauber +21 laps
R. SENNA HRT +32 laps
R. GLOCK Virgin +33 laps
R. PETROV Renault +36 laps
R. KOBAYASHI Sauber +38 laps
R. DI GRASSI Virgin +47 laps
R. CHANDHOK HRT +48 laps
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